


Tape Me

by cephalopod_groupie



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: M/M, Secret Crush, VHS Tapes, kiss, nerd love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-21
Updated: 2015-01-21
Packaged: 2018-03-08 12:04:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3208514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cephalopod_groupie/pseuds/cephalopod_groupie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hermann secretly videotapes Newton and of course the interfering biologist has to find out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tape Me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [KaijuKatty](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaijuKatty/gifts).



“Hermann, dude? Is that a fuckin’ VHS tape? Seriously?” 

“Yes, how astute of you,” Hermann said walking over to Newton before whipping the cassette out of his hands. 

“Geez, sorry. What’s on there, porn?”

“I beg your pardon, I do not watch such rubbish.”

“Sexuality isn’t rubbish, man. I wouldn’t think bad of you if you watched that kinda thing. It would give you some street cred.”

“Yes, well,” Hermann said disapprovingly. He slipped the vhs back in its cardboard slipcase before they sat down to work on a joint report.

“So, what does the N. sand for?” Hermann just about choked on his tea. 

“First of all,” Hermann said, wiping his lips on his handkerchief, “It’s none of your business. Secondly, we should be concentrating on our work, and thirdly...it means...n–”

“Naked?” Newton teased.

“No! this particular N stands for...n-numerator.”

“Like, a part of a fraction?”

“Yes, now get back you your work.”

“Yes teacher,” Newton said with childlike mocking. The moments following passed in silence until Hermann began asking him questions he knew would provoke several minutes of kaiju-fueled rants. Although, right when Newt was just about to launch into verbal orbit, he stopped.

“Hey, did you hear that beep?”  


“Ah, um, no? You were saying?” Newton continued, blissfully unaware that Hermann had activated his old camcorder. An hour later, Hermann was very happy to return to his own quarters and relive the highlights of Newton’s chatter. Watching him in the comfort of his own room meant that he could stare freely at Newton’s plump, chapped, pink lips without interruption. He could even turn the volume down. This was the content of the latest vhs tape, though it wasn’t full like the others. 

The first tape featured quite an array of footage of Newton, from behind, working on kaiju guts, mostly silent with the occasional squeaky comeback over his shoulder. The next time Hermann set up the camcorder to collect the same sort of footage, he set the device to zoom, which may or may not have captured several nice angles of Newton’s shapely ass.

The second tape was comprised of Newton going through the items he had in cold storage. How Hermann had gotten away with Newton not seeing the winking red light of the recorder that was propped on one of his filing cabinets, he would never know. Hermann was pleased with the results: many instances of Newton reaching upward, accentuating his thin yet muscular arms. 

The third tape was much more cerebral. The footage was of Newton, sitting on his side of the lab, often at the piano, talking in great detail about Hermann’s theories. Though most of the time his opinion contradicted the mathematician’s own, there were moments of agreement, punctuated by a laugh, a chord on the piano, or a look in Hermann’s direction. The recordings were rather shaky, starting in mid sentence because Herman had hastily turned on the recorder as soon as he was sure Newton was going to go into a diatribe. 

And so on. There were eight tapes in total. After Newton had teased him for owning a vhs, Hermann decided to take the tapes to be converted. Not that that would stop Newton from teasing him, but he needed to preserve them before they became too worn out from all the rewinding and playing, rewinding and playing. When Hermann picked up the vhs (and dvds they’d been transferred to), he found a big green post-it note stuck to them saying “just ask him out you dummy.” Hermann’s heart began to pound. How on earth could anyone surmise his feelings toward this man simply because he had...eight vhs tapes full of Newton footage. 

Hermann returned to the lab to find the place in utter chaos and didn’t have time to properly stash the vids. Later that evening, or rather 12:34 in the morning when everything was dark, Newton snuck over to Hermann’s side of the lab, flicking on a fluorescent light. 

“Now, let’s see what’s on these fricken tapes,” Newton said, opening the drawer where Hermann kept his camcorder. He pressed play. He didn’t know what he was expecting. UFOs, porn, math lectures, but not this, not footage of himself. Newton fast-forwarded it, hoping to find something else but it was just him. 

“Do I really talk that much?”

“Newton, what in God’s name?!”

“Oh shit, busted.”

“What are you doing going through my drawer and–” Hermann’s eyes fell on the video recorder. “Oh bloody hell. Oh damn and blast.”

“Shit, sorry, I just – I had to know what was on these tapes, it was driving me crazy.” Hermann was bright red, torn between fury and mortifying embarrassment. If he could have dug a hole into the floor with his cane he would have. Instead, he hooked it on a lamp, ripping the recording device out of Newt’s hands and stuffing it back in the drawer. 

“Hermann, please don’t be mad at me. I’m really _really_ sorry. I know it was wrong to go into your drawer and invade your personal space but I just wanted to know something about you that wasn’t connected to math. Can we just start again?”

“Why did you want to know something personal about me?” Hermann said reaching for his cane.

“The way you reacted when I picked up that vhs. Dude, I’ve never seen that look on your face before! I can’t even describe it, you were just...man, I had to know why you looked like that.”

“Oh?” was all Hermann could muster in response to the ardor in Newton’s voice.

‘I mean, shit, I still don’t understand why you’d be all weird about video of me unless–.” Hermann looked at him peripherally for a nanosecond and turned back to the floor. “You mean, you...no way! What do you do? Bitch at the screen when I’m not there to defend myself? Jack off to it? – You do! You jack off to it!”

“I do nothing of the sort. I do, in fact, find you...alluring. And some of our conversations have been worth revisiting for the sake of scientific perspective.” 

“That’s the most ridiculous crush confession I’ve ever heard. I know ‘cause I’ve made most of them.” 

“Well, if you’re done laughing at me, I shall go back to bed and we can forget this ever happened.”

“No wait! I was gonna say, that’s great! Shit, now who sounds dumb. I’m not creeped out that you video taped me. I mean, I’m actually really flattered. Please don’t be embarrassed because I, um, I really think you’re...alluring too.” Newton gave him a lopsided grin.

“Oh, I see.”

“Well?” Hermann explained the post-it note, spending far too much time describing the video shop and stumbling over every other word.

“...Not that I heed the advice of strangers, but,” Hermann gulped, “would you think me too forward if I asked you out–”

“Yes,” Newton blurted out.

“I hadn’t quite finished. I was about to ask you if you wanted to go out for a dinner date with me.”

“I said yes,” Newton said as he strode closer. He took hold of Hermann’s hips, bringing them uncomfortably close. “I see the footage was zoomed a couple times. Were you looking at anything in particular?” Though Newton’s lips were 1.75 inches from his own, Hermann looked away.

“Your lips, perhaps.”

“No one’s looking. You wanna zoom in?” Hermann could resist no longer and gently placed his lips on Newton’s, cherishing the warmth and softness. Newton took the initiative, making the kiss deeper but no less warm and comforting. Several minutes ticked by and Newton pulled away. His green eyes were hooded but still bright.

“When did you wanna to go out?”

“Tomorrow evening?”

“You mean tonight? It’s after midnight.”

“So it is.” Hermann yawned, “We should get some sleep.”

“I’ll try but I’ll probably be thinking of you.”

“I’m sure I’ll be doing the same, about you that is.” Hermann smiled.

“Maybe we should make a video together one of these days.”

“Don’t be silly, Newton, or I shall revoke my offer.

“You wouldn’t.” Hermann kissed him.  

“Goodnight, Newton.” Newton winked at him. Hermann blushed. 


End file.
